A Beautiful Finish

Wow, folks, it's been a heck of a weekend. We've got lots to talk about, so let's get started.

I had a photo shoot on Saturday afternoon, and when I got to the theatre I was still in full makeup (complete with false eyelashes) and super-curly "bride hair." My fellow dancers are not used to seeing me done up as such, so there were quite a few double-takes being done:After scrambling to flatten my hair out into a bun, we assembled together onstage for class and to mark through a few things. There's a certain vibe about the pre-performance company class; the mood is relaxed; everyone is centering their minds for performance and preparing their bodies. Light-hearted banter floats back and forth between the barres along with different medlies of groans, giggles, and joints popping. It didn't feel, to me, like the last show; it was weird to think that hey, this is probably the last time I'll dance this piece until the fall season. Warm-up ends, pre-set costume changes and props, fix makeup, re-do my bun, re-do my bun again, put on first costume, group prayer, here we go.

The interesting thing about this program-- this time around, anyway-- is that it goes super fast. I think because the order of ceremonies was essentially "dance, change during the next piece, dance again." One piece to change costumes, get backstage, and be ready to go on....if you're lucky. For a few folks in particular, the schedule was "dance, change in the wings holycraprightfreakingnow between dances, dance again." Dancers in [Awesome People] Dance Company can change clothes faster than Clark Kent can turn into Superman.

I was anxious to get going because I was bouncing off the walls, nearly radiating with some kind of explosive energy, and was ready to get onstage and put it to some use. Once again, my nose wouldn't stop running during Marketplace; but the energy at the end of the piece was so high that I nearly ended up on the ground at the end, when all the dancers are connected and whipping each other forward and back as we move across the stage (It's so fun). Zapatos is a favorite of mine, particularly the big group canon at the end. I love the movement; once I got it into my body it felt so natural. The music is in that section is gorgeous, too, I didn't even mind getting it stuck in my head after every show. The last piece was new-- created by the group, as a group, ten days before we opened. It's light-hearted contemporary movement, very playful in sections, and the music (Bruce Cockburn on guitar) is so uplifting you kind of have no choice other than to grin like an idiot the entire time. It's over quickly, too; when we hit those last three movements in unison and the audience went nuts, I thought "It's over already?"
After the show was the talkback with the audience and our little cast party-- an event that featured pizza, beer, the invention of the word "beersploded (as in, "I went to open my drink and it beersploded all over my shirt")," and a video- viewing of the show we did at the Miller last spring. We gathered in the theater to watch it on the projector, making comments on the dances/dancing the entire time. It was very MST3K, but with heavy use of the words "dude" and "awesome" by Yours Truly. I finally saw what our performance of Double Takes looked like, and was relatively pleased; and the ladies of the last piece, Ramble, were AMAZING. Watching that show brought back so many wonderful memories of a beautiful and incredible night.
At one point, our stage mananger and one of the dancers disappeared....several minutes later, our stage manager returned wearing a giant full-body Tigger costume. Photos were taken, videos were taken, and their was much shrieking with laughter:

(This is unequivocally the best photo of the evening.)

After the party a friend and I helped strike, then retired to my place for a "girl's night." We sat on my balcony, drank, talked, and shot the breeze until well after midnight. After hitting the bar next door for a few minutes to chat with some other buddies, i finally rolled back in my front door at two a.m.; happy and exhausted after an incredible weekend of dancing and friendship.